I decided, on a whim, to go on a 3 week holiday to Sweden. As you may know from previous posts I have family here and thus I try to come over every once in a while. After a short road trip I arrived at my final destination – the coastal city of Karlskrona – where I am staying right by the sea. At the moment of writing, the sun is setting in a beautiful spectrum of reds and yellows, the birds (seagulls, I’ll admit) are singing and as ever I find in my hand a trusty dram. Life, in short, is good. Before I continue with the review I feel I should give a word of warning to anyone intending to visit Sweden or indeed Scandinavia – bring your whisky with you! It’s a beautiful place with lots to offer, but cheap or even reasonably priced alcohol is not available. As a point of reference, a standard bottle of Famous Grouse is KR279 (about £24) as compared to £15 or so in the UK.
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Smokehead is a single malt Islay whisky, distilled by… I don’t know, actually, it’s a bit of a secret. Popular guesses include Lagavulin and Ardbeg, I’m personally not sure which one I lean more towards. Whoever distils it, it’s young, I can tell you that much.
From the design of their bottle and website, it is fairly clear that Smokehead are trying to attract a younger audience, and I’m all for it – it’s a great way to introduce younger whisky drinkers to a decent single malt rather than letting them run to the Bourbon/Sour mash shelf in the shop. They’ve also teamed up with the Scottish BrewDog brewery (who have a similar mission, but with beer), who released a Smokehead version of their Paradox stout in 2008.
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As the thermometer outside my window approaches the 20c mark, growing closer day by day, and the first BBQ of the year has been prepared, carried out and consumed; only one thing could possibly happen next. I’ve fallen ill, more specifically I regret to announce that I have contracted acute viral rhinopharyngitis; there is little doctors can, or indeed will, do. The common cold is a bugger! Luckily I know of a cure myself, one all too rarely prescribed by doctors – a daily dose, perhaps even two, of ye olde water of life.
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You may have heard of them before, a little distillery called Ardbeg on the coast of Islay. As I was talking to my dear friend a day or two ago, I mentioned that I was writing a review of Ardbeg Blasda. A good memory being one of his finer qualities, he asked why I’d chosen to review Renaissance and Blasda, but not the more common 10 year old expression. The thought hadn’t really crossed my mind before, but when he mentioned it did seem rather obvious that I ought to. So let’s take a look at it, shall we? It certainly does deserve it.
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Out driving my Mazda,
I went past an Asda,
I stopped for some pasta,
But spotted some Blasda!
Now home from Asda,
Getting tipsy quite fast(a).
Alright, I may not have a career writing lyrics, poetry or rap (though I do think the above would make a good rap tune, compared to what they’re normally spurting out), I’ll admit! And it may not be true to that I went to Asda nor have a Mazda, but I did recently pick up a bottle of Blasda! Apparently it means “Sweet and Delicious” in Gaelic, more importantly though it’s a light expression of Ardbeg’s otherwise quite heavily peated Whisky.
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Here’s a post that will be slightly different to most others; I’m not actually going to be reviewing a whisky that I’ve tried. Instead, I’m going to share with you what I’ve found out about a very young new player on the market; Port Askaig. Never heard of it? Neither had I, until quite recently. What you probably will have heard of, though, is The Whisky Exchange, the massive whisky retailer. Well they’ve also got a sister company called Speciality Drinks who sell a wider range of spirits, and they are the company behind Port Askaig.
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